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Shooter Now: Gophers AD Joel Maturi has no idea when football coach Jerry Kill will return

Pioneer Press

Posted:
09/26/2011 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated:
09/26/2011 10:31:39 PM CDT

Minnesota coach Jerry Kill, front right, leaves the field with his wife, Rebecca after Minnesota defeated Miami, Ohio, 29-23 for Kill's first win at Minnesota in an NCAA football game on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid) (Tom Olmscheid)

CHARLEY WALTERS

University of Minnesota athletics director Joel Maturi said he has "no idea" when Gophers football coach Jerry Kill might be released from the hospital or whether Kill will be able to coach Saturday at Michigan.

"The guy's got some health issues that we're going to take care of," Maturi said Monday. "I'm more concerned about Jerry right now than I am any other aspect."

Maturi said Kill, 50, was in stable condition at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., after admitting himself Sunday following another seizure that morning. It was the second time in two weeks Kill had been hospitalized for seizures.

"We're going to try to find out what's wrong," Maturi said.

Kill, who has a seizure disorder, suffered a seizure on the sideline late in the Gophers' Sept. 10 game against New Mexico State. Kill has suffered a number of seizures since then, he said last week.

Maturi said Kill was up front about his health .history when the Gophers hired him in December.

"He's continued to coach, and he's been pretty successful doing it his way," Maturi said. "For whatever reason, he's had a relapse, or whatever it is, of these seizures. We can't get it under control, and we need to find a way.

"I feel badly for everybody involved, but it's like anything else - it's the hand we're dealt, and we're going to deal with it in the right way. We're blessed to have a staff that's been with Jerry and knows who he is, knows what he wants, and they'll carry it on real well.

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Hopefully, our kids will respond appropriately."

As for future Gophers players, Kill had felt good about his early recruiting, and it's unclear whether Kill's condition will have any effect.

"I would hope not," Maturi said. "First of all, the signing date isn't until February, and we hope to get this all resolved long before that."

For now, the Gophers have to begin Big Ten play Saturday. The game is at Michigan, where Minnesota, as usual against the Wolverines, figures to be a decided underdog.

"The great thing about sports is that the old adage of one game at a time really applies," Maturi said. "Every game starts out 0-0. We're obviously going to have to play a whole lot better."

Minnesota is expected to play before almost 110,000 spectators at Michigan's "Big House."

As for North Dakota State's stunning 37-24 victory over the Gophers before almost 49,000 spectators Saturday evening at TCF Bank Stadium, Maturi said he was "really impressed" with the Bison.

"It shows you how a team can beat individuals," Maturi said. "None of those kids were recruited to play in the Big Ten, and the fact of the matter is that if most of them were on our team, they wouldn't be starting for us. That's just a truism.

"But when you play together as a team, and you play with confidence and continual intensity, you have a chance to win, and that's what they do. And good for them."

The Gophers' nonconference schedule is almost set through 2015 without North Dakota State. But Maturi sounded as if the Bison could appear on the slate after that.

"We'll continue to play regional Division 1-AA teams," he said.

South Dakota State is on the schedule in 2015. Minnesota's nonconference games next year are at Nevada-Las Vegas and at home against New Hampshire and Western Michigan.